Self-venting type needle



Nov. 13, 1962 A. J. KOWALK 3,

SELF-VENTING TYPE NEEDLE Filed Sept. 28, 1959 52 Ha Z ARTHUR J. lrg w g g FIG. 6.

' TORNEY Maw/ ym United States Patent Ofiice 3,fl63,45l Patented Nov. 13 1982 3,063,451 SELF-VENTING TYPE NEEDLE Arthur I. Kowaik, RED. 3, Box 81, Aberdeen, Md. Filed Sept. 28, 1959, Sex. No. 842,783 7 Claims. (Cl. 128-221) This invention relates generally to medical instruments, and, more particularly, it pertains to a new type of selfventing needle for use in withdrawing fluid from or injecting fluid into a closed container.

In the conventional process of withdrawing or injecting a fluid, such as blood, from or into a closed container, a hollow cannula or self-venting type needle is often used. This cannula or needle is inserted usually into the container through a rubber stopper or a stopper of equivalent composition. One of the problems encountered in this operation is that an air lock is developed within the container, which causes either a vacuum or positive pressure within the container, thus preventing the withdrawal of fluid from or the injection of fluid into the container.

In the past, such a problem has been variously overcome by deflecting the cannular or needle to one side, thus causing a spreading of the stopper, or by placing another needle or hollow object in the stopper to vent the container. Also, the problem has been solved by variously constructing the cannula or needle with valves and apertures, and/or use of parallel tubes to allow the equalization of the pressure differential produced during the operation of either withdrawing fluid from or injecting fluid into the container.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a new design of a self-venting type of needle or cannula.

Another object of this invention is to provide a selfventing needle or cannula which can be effectively and etficiently used to simultaneously withdraw fluid from or transfer a fluid from a container and replace it by air in the same operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new design of a self-venting needle which can be effectively and efliciently used for the injection of a fluid into a container and allow the air therein to escape in the same operation.

Still even another object of this invention is to provide a new design of a hypodermic type needle in which there is provided a number of grooves or flutes for bleeding displaced air in or out of a container.

And another object of this invention is to provide a new design of a self-venting type needle which is economical to manufacture, eflicient and reliable in operational use, and which is easy to install and manipulate for withdrawing fluid from or injecting fluid into a closed container.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of a selfventing needle incorporating features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a second embodiment of a self-venting needle incorporating features of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a third embodiment of a self-venting needle incorporating features of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, with parts being shown in cross-section, of the embodiment of the self-venting needle of FIG. 2 shown in operative position;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the self-venting needle of FIG. 3 illustrating its operational use in connection with the withdrawal of a fluid from a container; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevation taken in the direction of line 77 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 7 of the drawings, there is illustrated one embodiment of a self-venting bleeding needle 19 incorporating features of this invention for withdrawing blood from a person or animal. This selfventing bleeding needle 10 consists of a substantially cylindrical hollow needle 12. having a pointed end, and with a plurality of parallel spaced grooves 14 provided in its peripheral surface extending along the longitudinal direction of the needle. These grooves 14, in the embodiment of the needle 16 shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, extend throughout the length of the hollow needle 12. In some instances, instead of using equally spaced grooves 14 around the peripheral surface of the needle 12, one or two grooves can be utilized, depending upon the conditions under which the hypodermic type needle 10 is to be utilized.

The bleeding type needle 10 is usually provided with a finger grip 16 for use in facilitating the insertion of the needle into the vein of a patient illustrated in FIG. 4.

By extending the grooves 14 to the pointed end of the hollow needle 12, a serrated ended needle 10 is obtained. A needle 1%, of this design, can be effectively utilized for the simultaneous injection of a fluid into a container or receiving fluid from another container or other source and its replacement by air in the same operation.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5 of the drawings, there is illustrated a second embodiment of a self-venting type of bleeding needle 18. This bleeding needle 18 consists, likewise, of a hollow needle 20 in which there is provided a plurality of parallel spaced and radially arranged grooves in the peripheral surface of the needle. This embodiment of the bleeding type needle 18 diifers from the bleeding type needle 10 of FIGS. 1 and 7 in that the grooves 22 extend from one end of the needle and terminate intermediate the pointed end of the needle 18. A finger grip 24 is also provided on the bleeding needle 18 to facilitate the injection of the needle into a vein of a patient or animal to withdraw blood as illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

In the embodiment of the hypodermic needle 18 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, such a needle can be utilized for the Withdrawal of blood from a vein into the glass receptacle 34 to replace the air therein in the same operation. In FIG. 4, the self-venting bleeding needle 18 is shown having its grooved end pass through the stopper 36 into the glass receptacle 34 for receiving the blood from the vein of a patient. The pointed end of the needle 18 is inserted through the wall of the vein to withdraw the blood from the vein through the hollow needle 29 into the glass receptacle 34. Any air in the glass receptacle 34 is passed out of the receptacle through the grooves 22, as best illustrated by the direction of the arrows in FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 3 and 6, there is illustrated a third embodiment of a self-venting type of bleeding needle 26 which consists of a substantially cylindrical hollow needle 23 having a plurality of partial-length grooves 30 formed in its peripheral surface. This needle 26 is designed so that it can be attached to a syringe fitting 32.

The self-venting bleeding needle of FIG. 3 is shown in an operational position in FIG. 6 of the drawing. The syringe fitting 32 is coupled to a syringe 42, and the needle 26 is passed through a puncturable type cap 45 into a container 38 having a fluid therein.

As the syringe 42 withdraws the fluid from the container 38, air passes through the partial length grooves 30 into the container 38 so as to equalize the pressure on the inside of the container with that on the outside of the container 38.

In essence, therefore, the present invention consists in providing several diflerent designs of self-venting bleeding J type needles 10, 18, and 26 in which grooves 14, 22, and 39, respectively, are utilized in the outer or peripheral surface of the needles or cannulas to provide channels to facilitate the circulation of air by the same needle that withdraws fluid from or injects fiuid into a container, such as 34 and 38. V

Such designs of self-venting bleeding type needles 10, 18, and 26 present inexpensive, simple modifications of V the conventional needle or cannula to more easily fulfill the same purposes as the more complicated methods mentioned previously in this specification, namely, that of deflecting the needle to one side to cause a spreading of the stopper or by placing another needle, or hollow object, in the stopper to vent the container Within the stopper, or by variously constructing the needle with valves and apertures and/or parallel tubes to allow the equalization of the pressure differential produced during the operation of withdrawing fluid from or injecting fluid into a closed container.

It is to be noted that in the various embodiments of the needle 16, 18, or 26, that the needle will be weakened by grooves which are too large unless the wall of the needle is of proper thickness. Many small grooves in the bleeding needle 16, 18 or 26, will give a grooved arrangement of proper magnitude to allow more freedom of passage for the air and will not Weaken the needle.

It has also been determined that the smaller the grooves in the peripheral surface of the self-venting type of bleeding needles 1t), 13 and 26, the more surface tension of the fluid will prevent the fluid from retracting down the grooves after the fluid is forced into the container under pressure, or during withdrawal of the fluid from a container through the hollow portion of the needle. At the same time, the air will be able to enter or leave the container through the same grooves.

The grooves 14, 22, and 34 formed in the self-venting .type of needles 10, 18, and 26, respectively, can'be of various shapes and sizes, and they can be formed spirally around the peripheral surface of the needle, or straight as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7 of the drawings, or can be run in various directions, depending upon the design. conditions for the needle. Also, as previously pointed out, the grooves 14, 22, and 3 in the needles 10, 18 and 26, respectively, can extend throughout the length of the needle or be terminated short of the length of the needle. If they are terminated short of the pointed end of the needle, such a design of the needle can also be used effectively for puncturing skin of a patient or surfaces where desired. 7

These and other modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that Within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-venting type of needle, comprising, a thin wall cylindrical tubular member having an inner bore which is continuous and uninterrupted and having one end thereof truncated to form a needle point, said tubular member having at least one longitudinally extending groove comprising a depression in the outer peripheral surface thereof, with the cross sectional area of said groove being small as compared to the cross sectional area of said inner bore to allow for the passage of air through said groove in one direction when said needle is inserted through a self-sealing puncturahle material and with said inner bore of said tubular member passing fluid simultaneously in the opposite direction of flow of said air.

2. A self venting type of needle, comprising, a thin cylindrical shaped tubular member having an inner bore which is continuous and uninterrupted and having a truncated end forming a needle point, said tubular memher having a plurality of longitudinally extending and radially arranged grooves comprising depressions in the outer peripheral surface thereof, with the cross sectional areas of said grooves being small as compared to the cross sectional area of said inner bore to allow for the passage of air through said grooves in one direction when said needle is inserted through a self sealing puncturable material, with said inner bore of said tubular member passing fluid simultaneously in an opposite direction of flow of said air.

3. A self venting type of needle as recited in claim 2, wherein said grooves are spirally arranged in the peripheral surface of said needle.

4. A self venting type of needle as recited in claim 2, wherein said grooves extend throughout the length of said needle.

5. A self venting type of needle as recited in claim 2, wherein said grooves terminate short of the pointed end of said needle.

6. A self venting type of needle as recited in claim 2, wherein said grooves are arranged intermediate the end of said needle.

7. A self venting type of needle as recited in claim 2, and means including a finger grip secured to said needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France Dec. 6, 

